


In a cat's eye

by do_it_to_julia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cats, Crack, He was destined for greater things, I refuse to believe Mitaka died on Starkiller, Like being peed on by a cat, M/M, POV Kylo Ren, Poor Dopheld Mitaka, Rating May Change, Rey is swole now, Soft Kylux except they both think it's Hard Kylux, Species Swap, That's Not How The Force Works
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-05-28 23:38:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/do_it_to_julia/pseuds/do_it_to_julia
Summary: From a prompt issued to me via social media. Credit for the idea itself goes to Kastaka.Due to a slightly implausible series of events, Kylo Ren switches bodies with Millicent.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kastaka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kastaka/gifts).



The Jedi Peace Temple.

Like pretty much everything else associated with the Force, it had long been thought of as a myth until a hapless independent mining corporation had accidentally leaked its discovery on an obscure moon in the Outer Rim. Less than two hours later, the Resistance was on its way with a team of diplomats, and the First Order was on its way with a team of big guns.

The Resistance was especially keen to get its hands on the temple, because it was purported to have the power to "make your adversary see through your eyes".

The First Order was especially keen to get its hands on the temple because it was purported to be sitting on an Imperial fuckton of kyber crystals.

And apparently it wasn't sufficient just to let the Resistance arrive and then bomb the planet from orbit. Oh no. _You don't just_ kill _your enemies, Supreme Leader,_ Hux had explained.

(Er, yes you do? Kylo Ren had thought, but he was more inclined to listen to his General now the two of them were fucking on the sly.)

 _No_ , said Hux. _You make an example of them._

Okay. Fine. Whatever. So now Kylo Ren was tearing through the desert on his landspeeder in order to _capture_ the heroes of the Resistance, rather than just _kill_ them, like a normal person would, so that Hux could make an _example_ of them, whatever the fuck that meant. And Hux, as usual, was yelling something over the comm.

"Remember, Supreme Leader, stay with the intercept team! Do _not_ run off by yourself!"

"Okay," murmured Ren, as he accelerated the speeder in order to run off by himself. He checked his reflection in the mirror, watching the rest of the intercept team disappear behind him. There was sand in his hair. That was irritating. He looked really cool in his wrap-around sunglasses, though. Millicent was sitting on the back seat. He should really put on another layer of sun cream soon.

Wait.

Ren's hands tensed on the controls. He looked back. The plump ginger cat meowed at him.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

He had no idea how Millicent had even got there, but finding out was probably less important than making sure nothing happened to her. Because it wasn't that he _liked_ Hux, or anything, even though the sex was really good and it was nice to actually have someone to talk to when they weren't arguing. But if General Hux's cat incurred harm, and Kylo Ren looked in any way culpable, Armitage would _definitely_ try to kill him, and one way or another that would almost certainly spell the end of the sex.

"Millicent," he sang tensely, keeping one eye on the road ahead of him. "Millie. Here, puss puss."

Millie's ears perked up. Seemingly unpeturbed by the speed at which they were travelling, she wound herself around the gear stick to try and slide into Kylo Ren's lap.

The speeder hissed to a halt, sending dust flying. Ren grabbed the cat by the scruff, wrapped her in his cloak, and tied it off with a spare piece of rope.

Problem solved.

"Sorry, Millie," he murmured, in response to her angry hissing from the passenger seat, and continued on.

* * *

It was hard to sweep menacingly through the doorway of a temple when you didn't have a cloak, but Kylo Ren made the best of it. He activated his lightsaber, ready to be faced with a barrage of blaster bolts-

Nothing. Ren's gaze flicked around the tall, angular room; empty sconces, rock-carved walls, a smooth white circle set into the floor. The sunlight peeked through from behind him, illuminating some kind of mosaic, its details worn away by time. He stepped forward into the circle.

"Ben."

Kylo's hackles rose. He spun round, wondering where Rey had learnt to move silently. Her body had filled out slightly from her training; no longer slim and half-starved, her arms were toned and strong, her stance solid. She held out a hand to him.

"I just want to talk," she said.

She was lying. He could feel it. A prodigy she might have been, but she didn't have the benefit of Snoke's instruction. His senses prickled in the direction of the temple's east wall, and he turned his head, spotting a short figure darting into the shadows behind what looked like some kind of ancient sconce. Ren reached out with the force, but Rey was too quick for him, and her foot slammed into his chest. Before he knew it, she had his bulk pinned to the ground.

"Now, Rose! _Now_!" she was yelling, and while Kylo knew objectively that he could force Rey off him with the difference in their weight alone, he had the distinct feeling that she only needed a moment for whatever she was trying to do, and that moment was already halfway gone, so rather than launch into an attack he bucked her off and rolled away from her, kicking up ancient dust with each movement. And suddenly an orange blur was darting into his vision, and for one bizarre moment, Ren thought, _Hux?_ but of course Hux was far larger than that, and also not exclusively orange, and he actually felt disappointed for a moment, but he didn't have time to question that because abruptly everything went sideways and his body thrummed with power and there was a sound like singing in his ears and-

And suddenly he was looking at himself.

It was very odd. Not like looking in the mirror at all. (Ren reflected, with a minor and detached kind of irritation, that his tunic was less flattering than he'd thought.) Instead, it was like watching a holo-image of yourself. He wondered for a moment if he was dead, but no - he definitely still had a body, it just felt... strange. Too low. Covered, yet exposed. And the colours of the world were all wrong, and slightly blurry. Confused, he sought the guidance of the Force in his mind, but found nothing.

Ahead of him, Kylo Ren - or whatever entity was now puppeting Kylo Ren's body - made an inarticulate sound, almost like he was trying to talk in Shyriiwook. He dropped the lightsaber, which promptly deactivated, and fell onto his side, limbs flailing. He looked like he was having some kind of seizure. Ren - the _real_ Ren - felt his hair stand on end.

All over his body.

Oh shit. No. Please, no.

"It... didn't work," Rey was saying, somewhere in the distance. She sounded tearful. "He - I've damaged him somehow."

"Uh..." Rose had emerged from her hiding place, now, and she was looking straight at Kylo. Kylo looked down at his hands.

No. Not hands. _Paws._

"No, it worked," Rose said quietly. "Just not on you. And I think we need to get both of them out of here. Right now."

"Enemies incoming!" someone yelled. "Stormtroopers on speeders!"

Kylo Ren - or rather, Millicent in Kylo Ren's body - had now rolled onto her back and was trying to lick her own hand. Both Rose and Rey were looking at Millicent - that is, at Kylo Ren in Millicent's body - in a way that suggested they were working out how long it would take him to get to the temple doorway. For a long moment, the three of them were in stand-off - and then Rey pounced, and Ren dashed away, his paws pat-patting against the stone floor, hurtling his fuzzy ginger body into the desert.


	2. Chapter 2

The world seemed to make more sense when he was running. Landscape that had once been an uninteresting blur was now vivid and clear. Looming obstacles became springboards for movement; the horizon outside the temple opened up, and the approaching speeders and their stormtrooper riders leapt out against in it sharp relief.

So caught up in the thrill was Ren that he almost forgot what he was doing, until it became obvious that the speeders weren't going to divert for him, at which point he rolled hurriedly to the side, kicking up sand.

The instinctive grace that had fuelled his running disappeared, leaving a tangle of wrong-jointed limbs in its wake. He lay on his side for a moment or two. His head was at an angle to his body that he'd never experienced before, although he felt no pain, and there was an uncomfortable feeling of stickiness all over his body, which he supposed was the sand caught in his fur, and oh shit. He had fur. Because he was literally a cat. He had literally turned into Hux's cat and _this was not a dream_.

The speeders zoomed past, uncomfortably loud, forcing Ren out of his panic. He felt his ears flatten, and his shoulders wanted to hunch up suddenly; he had the sudden and embarrassing urge to hiss. Once they were gone, he picked himself up, shook some of the sand from his fur, and headed back toward the temple.

* * *

_Ren had still been basking in the afterglow when Millicent jumped up on Hux's bed to join them. He watched the General reach over to his bedside table and pick up a laser pointer with detached curiosity, and smirked when the cat leapt enthusiastically away to try and chase the little red dot._

_"She has to know it's not real by now," he said. Hux shrugged._

_"She most likely does, but it's fun for her. Cats have a sort of instinct to chase things," he said idly as he made the light dance back and forth on the opposite wall. For a creature that had no comprehension of language and regularly tried to drink out of Hux's toilet, her movements were remarkably intelligent. Kylo watched her dart this way and that, swiping at the wall with her paws._

_"They're natural hunters. Attracted to movement," Hux explained. "Quite a lot of their behaviour can be put down to that, actually. The fast metabolism, the regular naps, the tendency to eat little and often..."_

_Cat talk was starting to lose its appeal. Ren sat up and put his arms around Hux's waist, drawing him back against himself with a scandalized choke of laughter from the General._

_"What about me? How are you going to entertain me?" Kylo murmured against his neck, and slid his hand downwards, and the laser pointer was quickly forgotten, and a very pleasurable alternative to the activity ensued, interrupted only when Millicent pounced on Kylo's straining toes and bit them._

* * *

Most of the stormtroopers had already gone into the temple by the time Ren got there. Only two remained outside, and one put a hand on their companion's arm at the sight of him.

"KRN. Look. Is that-"

"It's just some desert scavenger," the other said. "Ignore it."

"I'm pretty sure that's Hux's cat." He started toward Ren carefully, blaster down by his side.

"Seriously? Hux has a cat?"

"Here, kitty. Good girl. Come here." The stormtrooper crouched down. Ren felt himself bristle at the indignity and headed toward KRN instead.

"A high-powered General keeping a cat on a spaceship. Seems kind of implausible," she noted.

"She's _right there_ , Karen."

Ren sat down and stared up at the stormtrooper. She looked huge and towering from down here. Not that he was nervous, but he probably would be, he reflected, if he was a real cat. KRN sighed and activated her comm.

"General Hux, this is KRN-90. I... think we have your cat down here, sir."

There was a momentary pause before Hux's voice cut in. "Millicent? Are you sure?"

"Not a hundred percent, sir, but DT-6190 seems to think so."

"Detain the animal and bring it up here," the General clipped. "Any news on the resistance? On Kylo Ren?"

"No, sir. The team inside think they've escaped through some kind of tunnel. They're in pursuit now. We think Supreme Leader Ren might have gone after them."

There was a long, slightly metallic sigh. "Keep me informed," Hux replied, and terminated the transmission.

Ren looked around at the sand. It occurred to him that he could write something there, alert the troopers to the fact that... what? That he was a _cat_ now? He thought about what Hux might do with that information. Probably laugh disbelievingly and have them both reconditioned, and then he'd be back to square one. No. All he could do right now was bide his time.

DT took off his glove.

"Here, kitty. Come here? Want a belly rub?" he said.

No. No, Kylo Ren did _not_ want a belly rub, and he hoped that his look of disdain communicated that. He flopped down onto his side again, wondering how he was going to get the rest of that horrible itchy sand out of his fur.

(Kylo Ren _hated_ sand.)

"Get a crate," KRN told him. Kylo felt his tail flicking in annoyance, but decided not to object. He'd get to Hux, and find some way to communicate with him directly, and, in the meantime, would simply have to bear the indignity of being put in a box.

He could always just have them both reconditioned later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one. Sorry about that! Next one will hopefully be longer.

And so Kylo Ren went in the crate.

To be fair, the stormtroopers did their best to make him comfortable. They put some water in a little upturned cup for him first, some of which Ren ended up accidentally snorting before he got used to his new mouth, and drilled holes in the top of the box so he could have some air. But it was still far too hot in there, and by the time they'd got the crate onto a shuttle, he was looking for ways to distract himself from the suffocating warmth and the disconcerting feeling of needing a pee.

Which - no. He wasn't even going to _think_ about where that might lead.

He rolled around experimentally and tested out the architecture of his new body. Flexed paws, retracted claws. Twitched his whiskers back and forth. Tried to get the hang of having a tail, although despite its thick, fluffy appearance it felt far too whippy to reliably control. It was only whilst attempting to unsheathe one claw at a time (unsuccessfully) that Kylo had a sudden idea.

With some maneuvering, he managed to brace himself against the inside of the crate in a way that allowed him to scrape his claws against the smooth Duraplas. While there was far too little light for him to see his work properly, the resultant sound suggested that he was making at least some progress. His fine motor function was worse than he expected, and it was really, _really_ difficult to get his forelegs to move in the right direction; eventually he just had to settle for variations on a downward slash. Still, Kylo was confident that at least some of the words would be legible.

I AM KYLO REN, he scratched, painstakingly and repeatedly, going over each line multiple times just to be sure. KR = CAT.

"The fuck is that cat doing in there?" he heard at one point, presumably from the pilot. Kylo hissed in annoyance, then flailed in shock at the noise, rocking the crate slightly, which elicited a muffled laugh from somewhere outside. It didn't help with his overall mood, and it certainly didn't help with the increasing pressure in his bladder.

 _It's fine. They don't know you're their Supreme Leader,_ he told himself. _And you can always kill them later if you like. When you have your own body back._

... shit. Had the resistance taken his body? Was it rolling around in the back of a New Republic shuttle somewhere, trying to lick its own ass?

 _Later_ , he told himself sternly. _Deal with what you can. One thing at a time._

A hot, stuffy, and undignified eternity later, the lid of the crate was finally lifted off. Ren blinked reflexively at the influx of light. His eyes adjusted quickly, however, and he was able to get a good look at his own work before two leather-gloved hands reached in to gently pick him up.

I / |/\\\/I/\, read the inside of the box. / X/ /|\ I/ /.

Fuck. Fuck! Ren felt his ears flatten back again. Never mind; never mind. This was not going to be his only chance. Hux was here now, and surely he could get Hux to understand-

A familiar voice cut in. The hands lifted him up, allowing him a glimpse of a uniform with code cylinders affixed to the front. Not a General.

"Ah, yes. That's Millie. I'll take her from here."

It was Lieutenant _fucking_ Mitaka.

Kylo Ren bared his teeth, looked him straight in the eye, and pissed on him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is looking to be an update-by-increments at the moment - so small chapters for the forseeable future. Sorry! I hope they're amusing enough to entertain anyway.

Mitaka had brought a cat carrier. Ren was tempted to make it as difficult as possible for the Lieutenant to get him into it, but he was tired and frazzled enough that it felt wiser to save his energy for the inevitable meeting with Hux later on. Which hopefully wouldn't be too long.

Still, he made sure to voice his displeasure at regular intervals. When Mitaka accidentally bumped the cat carrier on the edge of a console, he hissed. When he sheepishly explained to a passing Captain Peavey that Millicent had "had a little accident", he hissed. When he took a detour into the public freshers to clean up, he yowled continuously, while Dopheld blotted ineffectually at the stain with a wet handkerchief.

"Yes, I know, Millie," the Lieutenant told him, through gritted teeth. "You're tired and grumpy and hungry, but I'm not walking through the ship with cat piss on my trousers."

"Mraaowraaowraaow," Ren told him, which translated roughly to, 'I don't give a fuck about your trousers.'

Mitaka sighed and went to wash his hands before - wait, was he locking the door? Ren's ears twitched curiously. He watched the young officer check every cubicle before taking his commlink out of his pocket and switching to what looked like a private channel.

"Captain Opan, do you have a moment?"

This was interesting enough that Ren decided to halt his angry soliloquy in favour of listening. Why did Mitaka need to talk to Hux's pet murderer? A worrying thought began to emerge. Hux and Ren had, of course, done their best to keep the arrangement a secret, but Opan was smarter than he looked. What if he'd cottoned on to their association somehow? What if Ren's apparent disappearance had given them the opportunity to oust their General? What if they were planning an assassination?

And here he was, stuck in a fucking cat carrier.

Opan's voice cut in after a few tense moments. "I'm alone, Phel."

 _Phel?_ Ren's ears twitched again.

"I'm sorry, darling," Mitaka explained into the small microphone. "I'm stuck looking after Millicent for at least the next few hours. The General doesn't want her to be alone, and I don't think he's likely to leave the operations room any time soon. Not while the resistance are confirmed to have Kylo Ren."

The shock of hearing Dopheld call Tritt Opan "darling" was abruptly surpassed by the confirmation that, yes, the Resistance _had_ taken his body. His body which was, he assumed, currently being piloted by Hux's cat. Hux's cat, who enjoyed belly rubs and ate her meals from a bowl on the floor. Hux's cat who had no idea how to use a fucking _toilet_ , let alone the Force. Was Rey watching his body lumber about on all fours at this very moment, meowing and trying to rub its face against people's legs? Ren felt his fur prickle up in horror at the thought, and tried, once more, to push the idea out of his mind.

"It's fine, sweetheart," the Captain was saying through the comm. "After what happened today I expected we'd have to reschedule. Just let me know how it goes."

"Will do. Love you."

"Love you too." Opan clicked off. Ren curled his top lip in disgust. He'd never understood the need to get all... soppy with the person you were sleeping with. Romance was a waste of time. What Hux and Ren had was efficient. It was _useful_. The Supreme Leader had no need for nicknames or sentimentality or _snuggling_. Well, sometimes they cuddled a bit, but only when it was cold. It didn't mean they were _together_.

At least Mitaka and Opan weren't planning to murder Hux. Or not unless their conversation was some kind of very odd code. 

Kylo gave a perfunctory hiss as Mitaka picked up the cat carrier again, but his heart wasn't in it, because another thought had occurred to him, and he wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. With Kylo Ren gone, surely Hux should be making a bid for leadership. They'd always had the understanding that their arrangement was temporary - that the moment the balance of power changed, it would all be over. And yet, unless he'd severely misread the situation, Lieutenant Mitaka fully expected his General to spend the evening making plans to retrieve Ren. Of course, anything less than a cursory attempt to rescue the Supreme Leader would look suspicious, but... what if Hux was actually _trying_? What did that mean? Did Hux actually consider him _useful_ now? Or...

Ren was far too busy mulling over the situation to pay much attention to his surroundings any more, so it came as a shock when the carrier was finally set down on the ground, and its small door finally unlatched by Mitaka's gloved hand.

"There we go, Millie," soothed the Lieutenant's voice from above him. "Welcome home."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to join me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/do_it_to_julia) and/or [tumblr](https://doittojulia.tumblr.com/) :)

Hux's quarters looked very different from this height. Still, it provided a measure of comfort to be somewhere familiar. Even if he wasn't usually this close to the carpet.

Ren had started to notice that smells were more intense in this form, and there was a pervading scent in the air that he belatedly recognized as Hux; pomade, leather, freshly-laundered uniforms, and the subtle notes of his body beneath that. It brought up some very fond memories, and for one uncomfortable moment, he worried that he might be about to get some kind of disconcerting cat-boner, until he remembered that Millicent was female (and probably spayed).

At least there was a silver lining amidst this hurricane of shit he'd found himself in.

He wandered around, ears twitched forward, trying to gauge whether he'd be able to climb up onto something - the bed looked like a good bet, and Millie always seemed to manage it. He was about to make a first attempt when, abruptly, the most _intoxicating_ smell hit his senses. It was rich and appetizing, and Kylo's stomach rumbled. When had Millie last been fed? Before he knew it, he had turned around and was padding hopefully toward the source.

"Dinnertime!" called Mitaka, from the little kitchenette.

It was glorious. It was meaty and glistening. It was... cat food. In a little bowl with "Millie" embossed onto the side.

Ren stopped. He looked up at Mitaka, who was staring down at him expectantly.

This was humiliating. But... kriff, he was so very hungry.

 _Okay,_ he thought. _I'm definitely going to wipe your memory after this._

"Good girl," Dopheld crooned, as the Supreme Leader of the First Order tucked in to a bowl of Meaty Nerf Chunks. The texture wasn't ideal - a bit gritty - but Kylo soon found that it didn't matter. The smell was far more important, and so engrossed was he in satisfying his belly that he didn't even mind when the Lieutenant crouched down to pet his fur. It was actually quite a nice feeling. Comforting.

"There," murmured the Lieutenant. "Who's a good kitty? I bet you've had such a long day."

'Long day' was an understatement. Ren licked his lips and helped himself to the bowl of water next to it, earning a satisfying scratch behind the ears and another murmured accolade.

After a disturbingly satisfying portion of cat food, Kylo padded out of the kitchenette and prepared to clamber up onto the bed. He unsheathed his claws, and settled into a crouch, eyeing the taut bedsheet. How did Millie manage this? Couldn't be all that complicated; after all, she was only a cat. He reached up, latched himself onto the fabric, and promptly tore a long strip into the material as his body made rapid contact with the floor again.

Oh, right. Back legs. Ren was all set to try again when he felt a pair of hands grasp his flanks.

"Millie!" the Lieutenant chided, lifting her up into his arms. His voice softened into a murmur as the Supreme Leader attempted to wiggle out of his hold. "I'm not sure you're even _allowed_ on the bed."

Kylo gave a small, indignant mewl, and Mitaka let go, allowing him to set his feet on the ground again. He flopped despondently onto his side. Dopheld reached over to try and tickle his soft, white tummy; Ren delivered a quick warning swipe with his paw as he considered his situation.

And then - a stroke of genius. Unsheathing his claws again, Kylo reached out and tapped Mitaka's boot, making the softest of clicking sounds against the rigid leather.

The Lieutenant looked down.

"Are you lonely, Millie? Aw-"

He reached down, presumably to give Ren another scritch behind the ears. Ren ducked his head, rolled onto all fours, and tapped again.

One, two.

He paused, looking up at Mitaka, who blinked down at him in turn.

One, two, three, tapped Kylo. Then a pause. One, two, three, four, five. Another pause. Seven taps. Mitaka's eyes widened. Eleven taps. Then thirteen.

"Kriff," he murmured, under his breath, and grabbed his comlink, bringing it up to his face. "Captain Opan, do you have a moment?"

Ren twitched the tip of his tail impatiently. Clearly 'Do you have a moment?' was some kind of code between them - an excellent idea, when you thought about it. Maybe he and Hux should do the same thing. It might save him from having to wipe Lieutenant Mitaka's memory using the Force again. (Or another earful of "I've TOLD you to stop sending me pictures of your penis while I'm on bridge duty!")

"I'm alone, Phel. Anything the matter?"

"Nothing's wrong, just - something a bit odd... is this a good time?"

 _Nothing's wrong_?! Kylo could feel his upper lip curling in anger. _You've just found out your Supreme Leader is trapped in the body of a cat! How does that not constitute 'wrong' somehow?_

"I'm not busy, no," came the Captain's voice through the comm. Mitaka moved to sit on Hux's sofa, a smile creeping over his face.

"You won't believe this, but General Hux has taught his cat _prime numbers_."

Disbelief flooded Ren's short, fluffy frame. He let out a long yowl of protest.

"... are you sure about that?" Opan replied, over the sound of Kylo's complaining.

"Hang on. I think she expects a treat now-"

Usually, Kylo Ren would consider it beneath his dignity to eat from Lieutenant Mitaka's hand, but, well, the small scrap of dried meat he was holding did smell _very_ appetizing. And maybe it would make him feel a little better.

He ate the treat.

It was delicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry. Things will start moving soon enough...


End file.
